Chris Roberts was not going to get off the couch.
It was raining outside, and the second-year student at Cal Poly Pomona was relaxing on the couch at his home in Baldwin Park after a long day of classes. He had been invited to a radio station meeting on campus that night. The meeting was something he had an interest in, but the couch seemed more appealing than making the 15-minute drive to campus.
That’s when his mother stepped in, and the rest, as they say, was history.
“My mom, God rest her soul, says, “˜No, why don’t you come on, get up off the couch, drive out there. It’s probably something you’ll really enjoy,'” Roberts recalled.
Fortunately for Roberts and the thousands of Bruin fans who have tuned in to listen to him broadcast UCLA football and men’s basketball games on KLAC-AM 570 for the past 17 years, he decided to get up off the couch that night, and he found a career and passion in the process.
“It actually changed my whole life,” Roberts said. “So it was kind of one of those defining moments where mom said, “˜Come on, go do it, you’re going to enjoy doing it.'”
The early years
Roberts fell in love with sports while he was growing up in Baldwin Park. From the football field to the basketball court to the baseball diamond, Roberts played it all, and he lettered in all three sports at Baldwin Park High School.
As Roberts said, sports were his way to stay out of trouble.
“I was one of those kids who was always into mischief, so thank God I was active after school, because who knows what I would have gotten into,” he said.
Of all the sports he played, it was baseball that grabbed a hold of him a little stronger than the others.
While he was growing up in the L.A. area, Roberts naturally grew up to be a Dodgers fan, and he watched greats such as Mike Scioscia, who is now the manager of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and someone Roberts has become friends with over the years.
In most circumstances, Roberts said he roots for Scioscia and the Angels, yet when the Angels and Dodgers meet, Roberts holds true to his roots.
“I pull for the Angels, but when push comes to shove, it’s Dodgers,” he said.
Throughout school, Roberts described himself as one of those students who was always interested in speech class.
Roberts loved being behind a microphone, and he was the master of ceremonies at all of the school assemblies, which planted the seeds of his career in broadcasting.
His interest in radio increased at Cal Poly Pomona, where Roberts had the opportunity to take a newscasting class with a professor who worked for NBC.
Then came that fateful night, when Roberts forewent a comfortable night on the couch for a radio station meeting on campus, and his life as a broadcaster took off.
Life as a broadcaster
It has been a long journey for Roberts in the broadcasting profession.
Midway through his time at Cal Poly Pomona, Roberts took a year off from school to work at a radio station in Indio.
The summer before, Roberts had worked in Victorville, and the dull and tedious student life left him bored compared to his working life.
His father was strongly opposed to Roberts’ decision to leave school for the workforce.
For the longest time, Roberts could not understand why his father was so opposed to his idea of working in radio. Sure, his father had thought Roberts would be a coach one day, but was that a justification for not encouraging his son?
It was only years later that Roberts came to fully understand his father’s feelings.
“What I found out later because he was an old World War II vet that had been in Germany and France and he had been on the front line,” Roberts said. “He was worried that I was going to get drafted and be sent off to Vietnam. That was his No. 1 concern. I found that out later, but at the time I couldn’t figure out why he was so angry, because in those days you had a student deferment, but if you weren’t in school, you became 1A, which is draft-eligible.”
Roberts started out modestly in the broadcasting business, covering CIF high school games in a variety of sports for a station in San Bernardino before gradually moving up to cover games at Riverside City College and Cal Poly Pomona.
He then spent 10 years behind the microphone at Long Beach State covering football, basketball and baseball games.
Then came the unexpected.
Long Beach State dropped the football program and, due to the death of then-UCLA radio broadcaster John Reimenstorr, Roberts suddenly had the opportunity of a lifetime.
After an interview with a panel of people including radio station General Manager Bill Ward, UCLA Sports Information Director Marc Dellins, and then-UCLA coaches Terry Donahue and Jim Harrick, Roberts was selected to become the fifth UCLA play-by-play broadcaster in five years.
According to Roberts, at that time the job was often used as a stepping stone to bigger jobs, which resulted in a lot of turnover and little stability. But Roberts was adamant that he would not fail to stick around.
“I told Dellins, “˜Listen, I don’t want to be one of these guys that jumps around,'” Roberts said. “And he kind of leans over his desk and looks at me. … “˜That’s what they all say.’ And we laugh about that to this day because this is my 17th year now.”
A Bruin classic
Roberts has seen so much in his 17 years as the voice of the Bruins that when asked what has been the most memorable moment, Roberts has trouble answering.
He talks about the UCLA football team winning 20 consecutive games in the late ’90s behind quarterback Cade McNown.
He talks about Tyus Edney in 1995 when he traveled the entire length of the court in just 4.8 seconds to avoid elimination on the way to a national championship in men’s basketball.
He talks about witnessing men’s basketball coach Ben Howland taking the Bruins to three consecutive Final Four appearances.
Yet according to Roberts, the thing he likes most is being around the players and coaches and watching them grow and mature.
“I think the thing that is most special is watching a young kid come in as an 18-year-old, and then when they’re 22, 23, they’re men and they’re grown up,” Roberts said. “That to me is the most thrilling part of it.”
Not only have the players and coaches affected Roberts, but he has also influenced the lives of the people he covers.
Wayne Cook, a former Bruin quarterback and one of Roberts’ color commentators on the radio for the past eight years, remembers his relationship with Roberts as an athlete.
“Chris was always fair,” Cook said. “When I was quarterback, I had some success, but I also had some bad moments, and he was an easy guy to talk to.”
Throughout his time as the play-by-play guy, Roberts has earned the respect of his peers and coworkers.
Former UCLA men’s basketball great Don MacLean has worked with Roberts on Bruin basketball broadcasts, and one thing MacLean is amazed by is Roberts’ ability to work with a wide range of partners.
MacLean, who got his start in radio with Roberts seven years ago, said he has learned a lot from him.
“One of the smartest things he has told me is to be yourself,” MacLean said. “That sounds like a pretty simple thing, but when the game starts and you think about the people listening, maybe you’re more than yourself or less, maybe you’re more animated or less animated. That’s what I’ve learned from Chris. It’s more daunting than people think, and with his lead I’ve learned how to jump in and out of the action. It seems like riding a bike now.”
An important goal for radio broadcasters is to use the energy in their voices to make the listeners feel as if they are actually at the game.
According to Matt Stevens, Roberts’ partner for covering football games for the past 12 years, Roberts achieves that in spades.
“He brings a lot of excitement in his voice,” Stevens said. “When you listen to him it’s like you are actually sitting there watching the game. You can almost feel the energy from his voice.”
Voice of the Bruins
Roberts admitted that in being a broadcaster from Los Angeles, there is a tendency to wish to emulate such greats as Chick Hearn and Vin Scully.
While Roberts said he has been influenced by both, he stresses that he does not attempt to be like them.
“I never tried to emulate anybody,” Roberts said. “I’ve just tried to be myself.”
In his long and established career as a broadcaster, Roberts said he has received a lot of criticism, from fans and management. However, he has not let the criticism affect him in a negative way and instead uses it as a learning experience.
“I can’t say I haven’t been discouraged,” Roberts said. “There’ve been times I felt like, “˜Wow,’ but it’s never like, “˜Oh that’s it, I quit, I’m never going to be in broadcasting ever again.'”
On that rainy night long ago as a sophomore in college, Roberts could never have foreseen how his decision to get up off the couch would lead him down the path it has. But for Roberts and the entire UCLA fan base, that decision seems like a good one.
“I feel like I’m the luckiest guy in the world,” Roberts said. “I never take it for granted. I wake up every day thinking like, “˜I’m the voice of the Bruins, OK, what do I have to do today,’ even during the offseason. I cherish it and I treasure it.”